Overview

Release 4.2.176.51M provides support for Cisco 1500 (1505 and 1510) series outdoor mesh access points on the controller mainline release base (see Figure 1). The 1505 and 1510 will not be supported on any controller release beyond 4.2.

You can upgrade to this release from mesh release 4.1.192.35M.

Figure 1 Controller Mainstream and Mesh Releases

Note Depending on the customer's feature requirements, customers operating with both Cisco1500 series (1505, 1510) and 1520 (1522, 1524) series mesh access points in their network might need to use two separate controllers in the network (one for the 1500 series, and one for the 1520 series). For detailed interoperability guidelines between 1500 series and 1520 series mesh access point and other access points, refer to Cisco Aironet 1500 and 1520 Series Access Points Software Release Guidelines at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/wireless/ps5679/ps6548/bulletin_c78-542046.html

Release 4.2.176.51M is supported on the following Cisco Wireless LAN controller platforms:

•2106 series, 4400 series, and Wireless Service Module (WiSM) for the Catalyst 6500 and 7600.

Note The 1250 series access point have a hardware limitation where beacons can only be output at intervals that are multiples of 17 milliseconds. When these APs are configured for a 100-millisecond beacon interval, they transmit beacons every 102 milliseconds. Similarly, when the beacon interval is configured for 20 millsieconds, these APs transmit beacons every 17 milliseconds.

4Release 4.0.217.204 provides fixes for DFS on the 1510. This functionality is only needed in countries where DFS rules apply.

5An upgrade to 4.0.206.0 is not allowed in the following Country Codes when operating with the following access points: Australia (AP1505 and 1510), Brazil (AP1505 and AP1510), Hong Kong (1505 and 1510), India (1505 and 1510), Japan (1510), Korea (1505 and 1510), Mexico (1505 and AP1510), New Zealand (1505 and 1510), and Russia (1505 and 1510).

Important Notes

This section describes information about new hardware and software features, and operational notes for release 4.2.176.51M.

Note Release 4.2.176.51M provides wireless mesh features that are not found in other mainline 4.2.x controller releases. Mesh features are also found for the 1520 series in the main controller release 5.2 and later.

RAP vs. MAP Functionality

Access points within a mesh network operate as either a root access point (RAP) or mesh access point (MAP).

Outdoor mesh access points (1505, and 1510) can function as either RAPs or MAPs. By default, all outdoor mesh access points are shipped as MAPs and must be configured to function as a RAP.

At least one access point within a mesh network must be configured to function as a RAP.

RAPs within the network have a wired connection to the controller, and MAPs communicate among themselves and back to the RAP using wireless connections over the backhaul. MAPs use the AWPP protocol to determine the best path through the other mesh access points to the controller.

All the possible paths between the MAPs and RAPs form the wireless mesh that is used to carry traffic from wireless LAN clients connected to MAPs and to carry traffic from devices connected to MAP Ethernet ports.

Software Features and Enhancements

The following software features and enhancements are supported in release 4.2.176.51M.

Reliable Link Layer, Extended Retries-Transmissions that do not succeed will extend the number of retry attempts in an effort to improve reliability.

_

X

Reliable Link Layer, Secondary Backhaul Radio-A secondary backhaul radio is used as a temporary path for traffic that cannot be sent on the primary backhaul because of intermittent interference.

-

X

Passive Beaconing-Log messages from an access point that cannot connect are relayed through other access points to the controller.

X

X

Network Services Functionality

Ethernet Bridging-Traffic is bridged from hosts connected to a wired port.

X

X

Containment of Bridged Multicast Traffic-There are two types of multicast traffic, bridged and LWAPP, and each is governed by a different mechanism. LWAPP multicast is managed by the LWAPP methods at the controller, and bridged multicast is governed by the multicast network settings. Multicast flows (such as video camera broadcasts) originating in the network from a MAP Ethernet port terminate only at the RAP Ethernet (In mode Multicast). In this mode, multicast flows are not transmitted throughout the mesh network, thereby reducing bandwidth requirements.

Operational Notes

This section describes information about important operational notes and changes to existing controller CLI and GUI for release 4.2.176.51M.

Unable to Verify Static Call Admission Control (CAC) Parameters

Static CAC functions as expected; however, there is no way to verify static CAC parameters on the controller (CSCta46421, CSCsz82878) using the controller CLI or GUI.

Access Point Support Limit on WiSMs

The WiSM only supports up to 300 mesh access points reliably. Therefore, do not allow more than 300 mesh access points to associate with a WiSM.

Configuration Database Setting of 2048 Recommended for Large Mesh Deployments

In large mesh deployments, increasing the configuration database setting to 2048 is highly recommended. The configuration database total includes MAC filter entries, access point MIC and SSC entries, dynamic interfaces, management users, and local net users. You can increase the configuration database to 2048 using the config database size 2048 command and in the controller GUI, at the Security > AAA > Generalwindow (CSCsg88704).

Bridge MAC Filter Config Status Shown in Error

The show networksummary command mistakenly displays a status for the Bridge MAC Filter Config parameter. This parameter is not a configurable option in release 4.2.176.51M (CSCsk40572).

Limit Bridge Group Names to 11 Characters

Entering more than 11 characters into the bridge group name (BGN) field in the controller GUI mesh access point configuration window (Wireless > All APs > AP-Name> Mesh)generates an error message. This is also true when assigning bridge group names for mesh access points using Cisco WCS (Configure > Access Points > AP_name) and the config ap bridgegroupnameset groupnameCisco_MAP command (CSCsk64812).

In Cisco WCS, port status in found on the Interfaces tab of the access point page (Monitor > Access Points > AP Name).

Battery Charge Information is not Available for 1510s with Power Supply 1.01d Firmware

A1510 with an Alpha FlexNet MPS30-48C-SL power supply must have firmware version 1.02d or greater to supply information about its remaining charge to the controller and Cisco WCS. Otherwise, the controller and WCS display incorrect battery information.

To upgrade your power supply to 1.02d (or greater) firmware, return the power supply to an Alpha service center (Argus).

After detaching and reattaching a probe to a backup battery on a 1510 mesh access point, the battery status remains at a 0% charge reading for up to 30 minutes. This is in keeping with the design of the battery. The battery estimates its charge on 30 minute cycles (CSCsi83272).

Warning Message Added for AP Bridging Disable Requests

When a request is made to disable access point bridging using either the controller GUI (All APs > AP_Name > Mesh) or CLI (configap bridging disable), the following message is displayed (CSCsi88127,CSCsm16458):

LinkTest Limitations Message Added

The following warning message appears in the controller GUI (Wireless > All APs > Access Point Name > Neighbor Info) and CLI (config mesh linktest)when you run a linktest that might oversubscribe the link (CSCsm11349).

Warning! Data Rate (100 Mb/s) is not enough to perform this link test on packet size (2000bytes) and (1000) packets per second. This may cause AP to disconnect or reboot. Are you sure you want to continue?

Software Upgrade Procedure

When you upgrade the controller's software, the software on the controller's associated access points is also automatically upgraded.

Caution Do not power down the controller or any access point during this process; otherwise, you might corrupt the software image. Upgrading a controller with a large number of access points can take as long as 30 minutes, depending on the size of your network. The access points must remain powered, and the controller must not be reset during this time.

Caution Controller software releases 4.2.176.51M is greater than 32 MB; therefore, you must verify that your TFTP server supports files this size. Two TFTP servers that support files of this size are
tftpd and the TFTP server within the WCS. If you download the 4.2.176.51M mesh software and your TFTP server does not support greater than 32 MB file size, the following error message appears: "TFTP failure while storing in flash."

Note When upgrading to an intermediate software release as part of the 4.2.176.51M controller software upgrade, ensure that all access points associated with the controller are at the same intermediate release before preceding to install the next intermediate or final version of software. In large networks, it can take some time to download the software on each access point. You must be at 4.1.192.35M to directly upgrade to 4.2.176.51M.

Caution A backup of your controller configuration file is recommended prior to any software upgrade. Without this backup, you will need to manually reconfigure the controller should the configuration file be lost or corrupted or you need to downgrade.

Follow these steps to upgrade the mesh controller software using the controller GUI.

Step 1 Upload your controller configuration files to a backup server.

Step 2 Follow these steps to obtain the mesh controller software and the associated boot images from the Software Center on Cisco.com:

Step 6 In the IP Address field, enter the IP address of the TFTP server.

Step 7 The default values of 10 retries and 6 seconds for the Maximum Retries and Timeout fields should work without any adjustment. However, you can change these values. To do so, enter the maximum number of times that the TFTP server attempts to download the software in the Maximum Retries field and the amount of time (in seconds) that the TFTP server attempts to download the software in the Timeout field.

Step 8 In the File Path field, enter the directory path of the controller software.

Step 9 In the File Name field, enter the name of the software file (filename.aes).

Step 10 Click Download to download the software to the controller. A message appears indicating the status of the download.

Caveats

Open Caveats

The following caveats are open (unresolved) in this release:

•CSCsg88704-In large mesh deployments, the default configuration database settings of 512 and 1024 (system dependent) might not be large enough to address the needs of the network and additional entries to the database are refused. This condition is true of large non-mesh deployments as well.

Workaround: Increase the configuration database to 2048 using the config database size 2048 command. In the controller GUI, you can set the configuration database setting at the following window: Security > AAA > General.

•CSCsj79606-In some cases, mesh neighbors for a RAP do not display in the WCS mesh link panel (Monitor > Access Points > RAP Name > Mesh Links) when the RAP is operating without an assigned bridge group name.

•CSCsj98069-In some cases, after a RAP changes its bridge group name, the modified name does not display in Cisco WCS; however, the modified name does display in the controller GUI and CLI.

Workaround: Usethe controller GUI or CLI commands to access the required information for the relevant RAP.

•CSCsk43788-If a large number of mesh access point neighbors have an SNR of zero (0), these might fully populate the Mesh Worst SNR Links report.

Workaround: When running the Mesh Worst SNR Link, select the Parent/Child option as the Neighbor Type to display, to minimize the number of low SNR links reported. Additionally, you can increase the number of listings that display from the default of 10.

•CSCsl20845-It might take an extended period of time (an hour or more) for a change in attenuation to cause the SNR for an existing AWPP neighbor entry to change accordingly. If an access point is rebooted, the newly created AWPP neighbor entry has the expected SNR value immediately.

Workaround: None.

•CSCsl63171-A controller might report a platinum QoS overflow condition to the message log even when platinum QoS is not configured on any of the WLANs. The overflow condition is only reported for 1510s.

Workaround: None.

•CSCsm37109-If some cases, enabling the anti-stranding feature might cause the controller console to be swamped with debug messages from a stranded access point and you are not able to access the console prompt until the messages finish displaying. Messages disappear after 30 minutes when the stranded mesh access point reloads.

Workaround: None.

•CSCsm49862-When a 802.11a network is disabled and a new mesh access point joins, the 802.11a radio displays as UP or REG instead of the expected DOWN state because the 802.11a radio is not shut off due to potential stranding issues. If a mesh access point joins before a 802.11a network is disabled, the mesh access point displays as DOWN even though the 802.11a radio is actually UP. In both cases, the mesh access points are not turned off.

Workaround: None.

•CSCsx28806-In some situations, changing channels on the backhaul of a 1510 RAP causes all downstream MAPs to crash.

Workaround: Reboot the RAP.

•CSCsy97877-After 3 days of uptime, a mesh access point might reload and display an out of buffer message. Problem is often triggered by a client with incorrect credentials trying to continuously associate with two MAPs.

Workaround: None.

•CSCsz82878-Multiple WiSMs with a large number of 1510s connected might crash noting Task Name: reaperWatcher as the cause.

Workaround: Disable CAC for mesh by using the following CLI command: config mesh cac disable.

This command should be entered even if CAC is not enabled for voice or video. The config mesh cac {enable | disable} command is only relevant to mesh access points.

•CSCsz92765-A 1510 RAP or 1510 MAP might randomly start reporting: "Unable to transmit mesh adjacency frame." While this error is reported, the Parent AP will not accept any Children and must be rebooted. This issue appears to be related to the Child AP's encryption keys disappearing from the Parent. Remote debug commands keyShow and sibAgingShow were used to identify this issue.

Workaround: Reboot the ap or sometimes the condition has cleared itself after some time.

•CSCta26112-Randomly, 1510 MAPs will not be able to join any controller through their original Parent or RAP (1510). All controllers on the network send the join reply to the MAPs but the MAPs all report:

Workaround: Reboot the RAP or allow the MAP to move to a new RAP or Parent.

•CSCta46421-No CLI commands or GUI windows are available on the controller to verify that Mesh CAC is working.

Workaround: None.

Resolved Caveats

The following caveats are resolved in 4.2.176.51M.

•CSCsk68719-On the controller GUI, when you changed and applied data rates on a mesh access point radio you were prompted with a window that warned you of a pending reboot. When using the CLI, no reboot was necessary and no reboot prompt appeared. Workaround was to use the CLI to change the data rates to avoid the reboot.

•CSCsl15370-Mesh access points were unable to associate with controllers whose names were of varying string lengths. The workaround was to have the same name length for the primary, secondary, and tertiary controllers.

•CSCsl40587-Channel 192 could not be set on a 1510.

•CSCsl90654-When background scanning was enabled, sometimes RAPs would get into a state in which they could not transmit, and network would not be able to communicate. This occurred only in large networks.

•CSCsl91623-The 1510 was not properly advertising its SSID. There was confusion as to which radio (802.11a or 802.11b/g) it was transmitted on.

•CSCsl91679-A reboot of mesh access points was often required to reset adjacency counters or the adjacency. Changes were added to the code

•CSCsm25938-The 1510 could not be deployed in South Africa (country code-ZA). The 802.11a radio was in a disabled state.

•CSCsm73147- When a configured country code did not support the 5-GHz band (802.11a), an UP condition for both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz radio of a 1510 mistakenly displayed. As an unsupported band, no data should display for the 5-GHz band and MAPs could not join the RAP via that band.

•CSCso17430-In some cases, mesh networks with workgroup bridges (WGB) connections might experience lower throughput. This lower throughput is mostly seen when a series 1300 access point is configured as the WGB and its first connection within the mesh network is a 1510 mesh access point.

•CSCso28047-In release 04.1.191.24M, a controller might display the following message when polled by SNMP (generally Cisco WCS) instead of generating an error message for each access point every five minutes:

•CSCsq15736-All 1510s were advertising an incorrect transmit power (through their dynamic transmit power control (DTPC) information element (IE) beacons) to clients. (Clients use this information to automatically adjust their transmit power to the same level as the access point).This caused the client to set their power too low. Software was modified to report the correct transmit power of the access point in the DTPC IE beacon.

•CSCsq17074-When a user was using the controller GUI to access or modify an access point that was unreachable, a crash on the emWebtask occurred. No crash file was generated.

•CSCsu04143-In some cases, the radio resource manager (RRM) would over allocate timers, not allowing new timers to be allocated. Client association and rogue detection were affected.

•CSCsv04340-When a 1510 configured as a MAP, was deployed in a multi-hop mesh network operating with 4.1.192.22M, it would reset after several days of uptime.

•CSCsw73052-Ease calculation did not work correctly causing a 1510 MAP to remain with a secondary parent with a lower linkSNR and higher hop count than its original parent after connectivity to its original parent was restored. Release 4.1.192.35M was operating in the network.

For DFS channels, the off channel adjacencies that are updated depend on the map receiving a beacon in the 60 ms interval, that it stays off channel when 802.11b/g scanning is enabled. If the adjacencies are not updated, the map might not roam to neighbors on a different channel.

•CSCsx31684-The 802.11a radio was shown as disabled for the -N domain (Brazil) even though the controller was configured to work in the Brazil country code. Problem was resolved by updating country code tables in the software.

•CSCsy31659-A 1510 did not send a beacon from the 5GHz band when client access was enables on the backhaul. However, the 1510 did respond to probe requests and clients that were actively scanning were able to associate. Problem was seen in release 4.1.192.35M.

•CSCsy52216-A 1510 was not able to authenticate with a local controller or external RADIUS server when using a MAC address to authenticate.

•CSCsy55568-When the access point unicast syslog feature was configured, mesh access points would disassociate from the controller.

•CSCsz32172- The LockAsset error could occur on WiSM blades that were heavily loaded with access points and clients.

Closed Caveats

The following caveats represent those bugs that are closed and not actively being investigated but might still represent active conditions in a product. Workarounds are provided.

•CSCsm80803-When a wired client is connected to a workgroup bridge using WPAv1+TKIP (PSK), it loses its association with a 1510.

Bug was closed because workaround is effective. Code changes would be substantial.

Workaround: Configure WPAv2+AES.

If You Need More Information

If you need information about a specific caveat that does not appear in these release notes, you can use the Cisco Bug Toolkit to find caveats of any severity. Click this URL to browse to the Bug Toolkit:

Troubleshooting

Click Troubleshooting. Then choose your product and then select the Troubleshoot and Alerts heading on the product page to find information on the problem you are experiencing and other service advisories.

For additional suggestions on troubleshooting mesh networks, refer to the Troubleshooting Mesh Networks document at the following Cisco.com URL:

Obtaining Documentation, Support, and Security Guidelines

For information on obtaining documentation, obtaining support, providing documentation feedback, security guidelines, and also recommended aliases and general Cisco documents, see the monthly What's New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco technical documentation, at

All other trademarks mentioned in this document or website are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (0812R)

Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and phone numbers used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses and phone numbers. Any examples, command display output, network topology diagrams, and other figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only.

Any use of actual IP addresses or phone numbers in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.